College News

Roy and Norma Campbell of Salisbury first fell in love with Catawba College athletics through their membership in the athletics booster organization, the Chiefs Club. Then they started thinking of other ways they might better support the student-athletes.

Their thoughts took shape in the form of the new Roy and Norma Campbell Endowed Scholarship. Preference for the scholarship goes to student-athletes.

"Roy and Norma joined the Chiefs Club in 2003 and loved the fellowship with other members. Although they are loyal N.C. State fans and serve as Rowan County Wolfpack Club representatives, they established this scholarship to support one of Salisbury's local institutions and its students," explained Tom Childress, Catawba's Senior Vice President.

Childress noted that while the Campbells made an initial gift to establish the scholarship at Catawba, it was matching funds from their former employer, PPG Industries, which increased the scholarship fund. "Matching employer gifts are a wonderful way to assist a non-profit institution like Catawba and they're a resource that many of our donors, including the Campbells, have chosen to tap into. For that, we are grateful."

Roy Campbell grew up in Salisbury and played football at Boyden High School, graduating in 1954. He went on to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at N.C. State and played football there during his freshman year. When football practice began conflicting with attending engineering labs which were scheduled late into the afternoon, Campbell opted to single-mindedly pursue his degree and dropped off the team. However, his love of NCSU football continued.

Following his college graduation in 1959, he spent three years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and five years with Duke Power Company before beginning his career with PPG Industries at the Lexington, N.C. plant.

Although his parents lived in Salisbury while he was working and living in Lexington, Roy says he never thought about moving back to his hometown. It was only after his marriage to Norma, who grew up in Sanford, that Roy returned to Salisbury, drawn back by the Grubb-Sigmon-Weisiger house that the couple bought and began to restore in the Milford Hills area. When the two married 11 years ago, the wedding ceremony was in Lexington but the reception was held at their new "old" home in Salisbury.

Being back in Salisbury, brought Roy and Norma into contact with many folks Roy had known in his youth. One of those was Dick Smith, a 1956 Catawba College alumnus who had played football with Roy at Boyden.

"It was around the time that they were rebuilding Shuford Stadium that we got involved with Catawba," Roy remembered. "Dick Smith knew we liked football and he and wife Peggy told us we just had to join Catawba's Chiefs Club. We started coming out to the football games and everyone made us feel so welcomed. We loved it!"

"And instead of cooking all day the day before a NCSU game so we could drive up and tailgate, when we came to a Catawba game, they fed us before it," Norma joked, alluding the Tribal Treats enjoyed by Chiefs Club members before all home games. "And everyone was just so nice – first Coach David Bennett, now Coach Hester, and all of the players – we would see them when they worked at different community serviceEvents in town."

The Campbells are convinced that endowments are the way to go when someone decides to make a gift to a non-profit institution such as Catawba. "You keep the principal and spend the interest," Roy explained, and noted that the endowed scholarship he and Norma have established is a way to give a student a hand up.

"I think education is important and if somebody wants an education, they should have an opportunity to get it."

The Campbells are active members of Milford Hills Methodist Church and Roy is a longtime member of the Salisbury Optimist Club. They are parents to four adult children (three of Roy's and one of Norma's), nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.